BEIJING, June 18 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the government of southwest China's Guizhou Province to pursue economic development through innovation and improve people's livelihoods during a tour of the province between Tuesday and Thursday.

Xi made a stop in Huamao village of Zunyi County that has been lifted out of poverty in recent years on Tuesday. He visited greenhouses, financial centers, bamboo and pottery workshops to learn how poverty reduction projects are running.

Xi chatted with the villagers, saying the Communist Party of China (CPC) central committee cares a lot about farmers, particularly those in poverty, and has enacted various policies to boost rural development.

Xi told villagers that "a good life is created with one's own hands" and nothing will stand in their way if they are confident and determined.

Xi also visited the venue of the 1935 Zunyi Conference where Mao Zedong established his authority within the military.

After watching a video clip of a battle where the Red Army, led by the CPC, crossed the Chishui River four times in the fight against Kuomintang forces, Xi exclaimed "Chairman Mao was a true master of the art of war, and the battle is a textbook case of mobile warfare."

Xi called the conference "a watershed even in the history of the CPC". The conference showed the path China should take, which was to adopt Marxism principles according to China's reality, and to be independent and self-reliant, he said.

In Zunyi, Xi also visited a Red Army graveyard.

On his way from Zunyi to Guiyang, the provincial capital, Xi visited a small supermarket at a highway service area and inquired about the expiration date for a package of snacks. He also inspected two street-side food stands which sold stewed duck necks and other local foods. In China, substandard foods have been a safety concern in recent years.

Visiting a demonstration center on big data in Guiyang City on Wednesday, Xi stressed the need for more investment and research into this field as China's big data industry is still in its infancy.

"We must try to make a head start as we face the tide of information application. Concrete moves to promote use of big data are key in deepening its integration with industrialization," he said while talking to entrepreneurs at the center.

Xi talked to the heads of companies engaging in building Internet hospitals and affirmed their plans of offering high-end, online health services, which will gather 1,000 top doctors.

Xi was also shown a miniature 3D-printed drone built by a laser technology company and was told about big data usage in disaster relief operations.

Guizhou is home to data centers for China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, the three largest Chinese telecommunication operators. Xi visited China Telecom's cloud computing research park and watched demonstrations of its Internet applications.

In China Telecom's data centers, each room housed nearly 2,000 servers. Xi was told the fourth-generation data centers were completely developed independently and there would be more than 800,000 servers after the construction of the state research park finished.

Although Guizhou is among the least developed regions in China, it has put more efforts developing its big data industry since last year, establishing a state-level big data agglomeration and aiming to contain two million servers. Some cities in Guizhou offer free city-wide WiFi service.

While visiting an "education zone" which is home to 19 vocational colleges with nearly 60,000 students and teachers, the president described vocational education as an important part of the country's education system and urged continued improvement of it.

During his visit to Guian New District, he stressed that the planning and construction of the new district should aim for environmental sustainability as well as high standards.

Xi called for high-quality IT services and better e-commerce platforms as he inspected two IT enterprises in Guian New District.

The president urged Guizhou to pursue a new development path that was different from those for other provinces, underscoring the need of balancing economic development and environmental protection and ecological conservation.

The president advised the local government that it could improve its people's livelihood through sound management of key issues including education, medical care, social security and food safety. He also called for better care for senior citizens and rural children whose parents have left them to work in cities.

He also urged the government to coordinate grassroots political, economic and social organizations so they can all contribute to the country's development.